Can a company use an athlete’s image without permission in Turkey? This 2026 guide explains personality rights, unauthorized advertising, social media use, sponsorship conflicts, AI-generated likenesses, injunctions, removal requests, compensation claims, and legal remedies for international athletes.

The commercial value of a professional athlete extends far beyond performance on the field. An internationally recognized athlete’s face, photograph, name, likeness, voice, signature, nickname, personal logo, social media identity, and overall public persona may have significant independent economic value.

Sportswear companies, betting-related businesses, fitness brands, restaurants, mobile applications, video-game companies, retailers, sponsors, and social media advertisers may want to associate themselves with successful athletes because that association can influence consumer behavior.

But can a business simply take a photograph of a famous athlete from the internet and use it in an advertisement in Turkey?

In many circumstances, no.

The fact that an athlete is famous does not mean that their identity is freely available for commercial exploitation. Turkish law provides several overlapping mechanisms that can protect athletes against unauthorized commercial use, including personality rights, image and portrait protections, contractual rights, intellectual property rules, unfair competition principles, personal data protection, and advertising regulation.

For foreign athletes competing in Turkey or whose images are commercially exploited in the Turkish market, unauthorized use can potentially justify urgent action to stop the campaign and, depending on the circumstances, claims for financial and non-material compensation.

The legal analysis is especially important in 2026 because Turkey’s digital advertising framework was strengthened from August 1, 2026, including new rules concerning influencer advertising and AI-supported advertising. (Ticaret Bakanlığı)

1. Are Athlete Image Rights Protected in Turkey?

Yes.

Turkey does not rely on a single standalone statute called an “athlete image rights law.” Instead, protection arises through several legal mechanisms.

One of the fundamental sources is the protection of personality under the Turkish Civil Code. Unauthorized interference with an individual’s personality rights may potentially be challenged through the remedies available under Turkish private law.

Athletes do not lose these protections merely because they are celebrities.

2. The Difference Between Publicity and Commercial Exploitation

This distinction is fundamental.

A professional athlete can legitimately attract extensive media attention.

A newspaper may publish photographs relating to a football match. A sports website may report on an athlete’s performance. Television broadcasters may show competition footage subject to applicable rights.

But a commercial advertisement is different.

Imagine that a foreign footballer playing in Turkey discovers their photograph on an advertisement for a business with which they have never signed an endorsement agreement.

The advertisement creates the impression:

“This athlete supports or recommends our business.”

That implied commercial endorsement can raise serious legal issues.

3. Being Famous Does Not Mean Giving Up Personality Rights

Public figures generally tolerate a greater degree of legitimate public reporting than private individuals.

That principle should not be misunderstood.

Celebrity status does not automatically authorize third parties to monetize the athlete’s identity.

The purpose and context of the use are critical.

A photograph used to report a championship victory presents a fundamentally different legal situation from the same photograph being placed next to a product with promotional language encouraging consumers to buy it.

4. What Constitutes an Athlete’s Commercial Image?

Unauthorized exploitation is not necessarily limited to conventional photographs.

Depending on the circumstances, commercially valuable identity elements may include:

• face and likeness;
• name and surname;
• nickname;
• signature;
• voice;
• jersey number;
• personal logo;
• recognizable silhouette;
• social media identity;
• video recordings;
• digital avatars;
• synthetic voice;
• AI-generated likeness.

Modern sports marketing therefore requires a broader understanding of “image rights.”

5. Unauthorized Advertising

One of the clearest risk areas is direct advertising.

Suppose a sports supplement company publishes an advertisement stating:

“Train Like a Champion”

next to a photograph of an internationally known athlete.

If the athlete never authorized the campaign, consumers may reasonably interpret the advertisement as suggesting endorsement or commercial association.

The company may face claims even if it never expressly writes, “This athlete recommends our product.”

The overall commercial impression matters.

6. Social Media Advertising

Unauthorized image use increasingly occurs through social media rather than traditional television or billboards.

An athlete’s photograph may appear in:

Instagram advertisements, sponsored posts, short-form videos, online banners, marketplace advertisements, promotional stories, paid search campaigns, or influencer content.

Digital use can be especially damaging because unlawful content can spread rapidly across several platforms.

7. “We Found the Photograph Online” Is Not a Legal Defense

Businesses frequently misunderstand online availability.

The fact that an athlete’s photograph appears on:

Google Images, a club website, Instagram, a newspaper, or another publicly accessible platform

does not automatically grant a third party permission to use that image commercially.

Two separate rights issues may exist.

First, there may be rights connected with the athlete depicted.

Second, the photographer, agency, broadcaster, club, or another party may control copyright or other rights in the photograph itself.

A business may therefore require more than one authorization.

8. The Athlete Does Not Necessarily Own the Photograph

This distinction is equally important for athletes.

Being the person appearing in a photograph does not automatically mean the athlete owns the intellectual property rights in the photograph.

A professional photographer may control rights in the photographic work while the athlete separately retains legally protected interests concerning commercial exploitation of their identity.

Image rights and photographic copyright should therefore be analyzed separately.

9. Club Use of Athlete Images

Professional athletes commonly authorize their clubs to use their photographs for legitimate sporting and promotional purposes.

Examples may include:

team photographs, squad announcements, match promotions, ticket campaigns, club websites, official applications, matchday graphics, and club social media.

However, the scope depends heavily on the athlete’s contract.

Permission for ordinary club promotion should not automatically be assumed to authorize unlimited third-party advertising.

10. Can a Club Sell an Athlete’s Image to Sponsors?

Only where the club has sufficient contractual rights to do so.

This is a major issue in professional sports.

A club may enter into sponsorship agreements promising certain player-related promotional benefits.

However, the club can generally grant only those commercial rights it actually controls.

The athlete’s employment or sporting contract, collective image arrangements, federation rules, and individual sponsorship agreements should therefore be reviewed.

11. Individual Versus Collective Image Use

Some professional sports agreements distinguish individual endorsement from collective team use.

For example, a sponsor may be permitted to use a photograph containing several players but not create an advertisement centered exclusively on one star athlete.

This distinction can be commercially significant.

A supposedly collective campaign should not necessarily be used to circumvent limitations on individual image rights.

12. Unauthorized Merchandise

Athlete images are also commercially valuable on merchandise.

Unauthorized products may include:

shirts, posters, calendars, trading cards, mugs, phone cases, memorabilia, collectible products, digital collectibles, or accessories.

The legal analysis may involve personality rights together with trademark, copyright, unfair competition, or contractual considerations.

13. Unauthorized Use of the Athlete’s Name

An athlete does not necessarily need to appear visually for unauthorized commercial association to occur.

Businesses may use:

the athlete’s full name, nickname, initials, signature, slogan, or personal branding.

Where these identifiers are used to create a misleading commercial association or exploit the athlete’s reputation, legal protection may potentially be available.

14. Registered Athlete Trademarks

Elite athletes increasingly protect their names, initials, signatures, logos, and personal brands through trademark registration.

Where a registered trademark is used without authorization in connection with protected goods or services, trademark remedies may operate alongside personality-right claims.

For internationally marketable athletes, a coordinated trademark strategy can therefore provide an additional layer of commercial protection.

15. Fake Athlete Endorsements

One particularly damaging form of misuse is a false endorsement.

A company may publish an advertisement suggesting that a well-known athlete:

uses, recommends, prefers, supports, or has partnered with the company’s product.

False endorsements can damage the athlete even when the product itself is lawful.

The athlete may already have an exclusive contract with a competitor.

16. Sponsorship Conflicts Can Increase Damages

Consider an international athlete who has an exclusive sponsorship agreement with Sportswear Brand A.

Sportswear Brand B then uses the athlete’s photograph without authorization.

The athlete may face more than the ordinary loss of a licensing fee.

The unauthorized advertisement could also interfere with an existing contractual relationship and potentially create reputational or financial consequences under the athlete’s legitimate sponsorship agreement.

Evidence of existing exclusivity can therefore be extremely important.

17. Betting and Gambling-Related Misuse

Unauthorized association with betting-related businesses can create particularly serious reputational problems.

An athlete may have deliberately refused sponsorships from businesses in particular industries.

A false commercial association can therefore harm the athlete’s personal brand independently from the ordinary licensing value of the photograph.

18. Alcohol, Tobacco, Financial, and Other Sensitive Associations

The same issue can arise where the athlete’s image is associated with a sector that creates regulatory or reputational concerns.

The seriousness of unauthorized use depends not merely on how widely the photograph was distributed but also what the athlete was falsely presented as endorsing.

This factor can become relevant when assessing the consequences of the violation.

19. Social Media Accounts Impersonating Athletes

Unauthorized commercial exploitation may also involve fake social media accounts.

A fraudulent account might use an athlete’s:

name, photograph, biography, club details, and videos

to sell products or promote services.

Such situations can potentially involve personality rights, trademark issues, fraud, platform violations, and other legal questions.

Immediate evidence preservation is important.

20. Deepfakes and AI-Generated Athlete Images

Artificial intelligence has dramatically increased the risk of unauthorized athlete exploitation.

Businesses can now create highly realistic synthetic content depicting an athlete:

• wearing a product;
• holding merchandise;
• appearing inside a store;
• delivering a promotional statement;
• recommending a service;
• participating in an event that never occurred.

The fact that the advertiser did not use an original photograph does not automatically remove legal risk.

21. 2026 AI Advertising Rules in Turkey

This issue became particularly significant in 2026.

The Ministry of Trade announced amendments to the Regulation on Commercial Advertising and Unfair Commercial Practices published on July 1, 2026, with the relevant amendments entering into force on August 1, 2026.

The updated framework expressly addresses areas including AI-generated advertising, targeted advertising, social media influencer promotions, and digital advertising transparency. (Ticaret Bakanlığı)

Accordingly, businesses using synthetic athlete representations in Turkey now need to consider both personality-right issues and the strengthened advertising framework.

22. Can AI Be Used to Create a Fake Athlete Endorsement?

This is legally high-risk.

Imagine an AI-generated video showing an international footballer saying:

“I use this product every day.”

The athlete never recorded the statement and never authorized the campaign.

Such content can potentially create overlapping questions concerning:

personality rights, commercial exploitation, misleading advertising, contractual sponsorship conflicts, data protection, and potentially other rights depending on how the synthetic content was produced.

AI should therefore never be treated as a mechanism for bypassing image-right permissions.

23. Voice Cloning

An athlete’s commercial identity can also be exploited without showing their face.

AI voice-cloning technology can generate realistic advertisements imitating an athlete’s voice.

Contracts and enforcement strategies should increasingly address:

voice recordings, synthetic voice models, speech generation, and digital replicas.

This is becoming an important component of athlete rights management.

24. Digital Avatars

Video games, virtual environments, digital advertising, and interactive platforms may create athlete avatars.

These can reproduce:

face, body characteristics, movement, tattoos, hairstyle, signature celebrations, voice, or recognizable sporting behavior.

Whether the use requires authorization depends on the circumstances and rights involved, but businesses should not assume that calling a representation an “avatar” eliminates personality-right concerns.

25. Personal Data Protection

Athlete photographs can also engage Turkish personal data rules.

An identifiable individual’s photograph may constitute personal data depending on the processing context.

Where facial information is technically processed for unique identification, additional questions concerning biometric data may arise.

This means large-scale digital image databases, facial recognition, avatar creation, and AI systems may create data-protection issues beyond conventional image rights.

26. Advertising Board Enforcement in 2026

Digital advertising compliance has become a significant regulatory enforcement area.

In July 2026, the Ministry of Trade reported that the Advertising Board had resolved more than 21,000 files during the first seven months of 2026 and imposed administrative fines exceeding TRY 185 million in its broader fight against misleading advertisements and unfair commercial practices. (Ticaret Bakanlığı)

This enforcement environment makes pre-publication clearance particularly important for businesses using athlete identities in commercial campaigns.

27. What Can an Athlete Do After Discovering Unauthorized Use?

The first priority should generally be to preserve evidence.

The athlete or legal representative should document:

the advertisement, URL, account name, publication date, screenshots, videos, number of views where available, products advertised, campaign territory, paid-advertising indicators, physical billboards, and any consumer reactions.

The evidence should be collected before demanding removal.

Otherwise, the advertiser may delete the material.

28. Identifying the Responsible Company

Digital campaigns often involve multiple parties.

The visible brand may not be the only responsible entity.

Potentially relevant parties can include:

advertiser, advertising agency, social media agency, influencer, distributor, retailer, platform participant, merchandise producer, licensee, or other commercial intermediary.

The contractual chain should be investigated.

29. Cease-and-Desist Notice

Depending on the case, an athlete may first send a formal legal notice demanding that the unauthorized use stop.

The notice can request:

immediate cessation, removal from websites, deletion from social media, withdrawal of advertisements, suspension of merchandise sales, disclosure of campaign information, preservation of records, and compensation negotiations.

However, sending a warning before securing evidence can sometimes be strategically undesirable.

30. Injunctive Relief

Where unauthorized commercial use is continuing and causing serious harm, urgent judicial intervention may be considered.

The objective may be to stop the advertisement before ordinary proceedings conclude.

This can be particularly important for:

major national campaigns, viral social media advertisements, unauthorized merchandise, false endorsements, or AI-generated athlete advertising.

The legal requirements for interim relief must be established in the individual case.

31. Removal of Online Content

The appropriate removal mechanism depends on where and how the content appears.

An athlete may potentially pursue:

direct removal requests, platform procedures, contractual enforcement, judicial remedies, or other legally available mechanisms.

A strategy should account for the possibility that identical content has been reposted across numerous accounts.

32. Compensation for Unauthorized Image Use

Stopping the advertisement may not fully compensate the athlete.

Commercial use may already have generated value for the advertiser.

Depending on the legal basis and evidence, compensation claims may potentially address:

financial loss, loss of licensing value, interference with existing sponsorships, reputational consequences, and non-material harm.

The appropriate calculation depends heavily on the facts.

33. Lost Licensing Fee

A useful economic question in many cases is:

What would the advertiser have had to pay if it had lawfully obtained the athlete’s permission?

Evidence can include:

• previous endorsement agreements;
• comparable licensing agreements;
• sponsorship history;
• market value;
• campaign duration;
• audience size;
• geographical scope;
• media used.

For internationally recognized athletes, the hypothetical licensing value can be substantial.

34. Existing Sponsorship Agreements as Evidence

Previous legitimate sponsorship contracts can provide valuable evidence of commercial value.

Suppose an athlete ordinarily charges substantial fees for nationwide advertising campaigns.

A business should not be able to assume that the athlete’s commercial identity has no economic value merely because the image was copied from social media.

The athlete’s actual licensing history can therefore become important evidence.

35. Non-Material Damage

Unauthorized commercial use may also cause personal and reputational harm.

This is particularly significant where an athlete is falsely associated with:

controversial products, illegal services, political messaging, misleading health claims, or businesses fundamentally inconsistent with the athlete’s personal brand.

The circumstances of the use will affect the legal assessment.

36. Unauthorized Use After a Contract Ends

Not every dispute begins with completely unauthorized use.

Sometimes the advertiser originally had permission but continues using the athlete’s image after the license expires.

For example, a sponsorship agreement may end on June 30 while advertisements continue running in September.

The athlete should review:

license duration, wind-down periods, sell-off rights, archived social media provisions, inventory clauses, and post-termination obligations.

Use that was originally lawful can become unauthorized after contractual rights expire.

37. Use Outside the Licensed Territory

Another common violation occurs when the advertiser exceeds geographical limitations.

An athlete may grant rights for Turkey only, while the sponsor distributes the same campaign across Europe, the Middle East, or worldwide.

Digital advertising makes territorial violations especially easy.

The contract’s geographical restrictions and campaign analytics can become important evidence.

38. Unauthorized Sublicensing

A company that obtains athlete image rights does not automatically have unlimited authority to transfer them to others.

If a Turkish sponsor gives the athlete’s photographs to affiliated companies, distributors, franchisees, or unrelated advertisers without contractual authority, the use may exceed the original license.

Sublicensing provisions should therefore be examined carefully.

39. Use for an Unauthorized Product

An athlete might authorize their image for one product category but not another.

For example, permission to advertise running shoes should not automatically be interpreted as authorization to use the athlete’s image for:

financial products, nutritional supplements, gambling services, medical products, or unrelated consumer goods.

Purpose limitations are a fundamental part of image-rights licensing.

40. Evidence Preservation Is Critical

Athletes should not rely only on screenshots.

Depending on the case, valuable evidence may include:

advertising invoices, campaign analytics, social media engagement, agency contracts, website traffic, merchandise sales, distribution records, archived pages, witness evidence, sponsorship contracts, and communications acknowledging the use.

Commercial-scale misuse requires commercial-scale evidence.

41. Foreign Athletes Can Seek Protection in Turkey

Foreign nationality does not mean that an athlete must tolerate unauthorized exploitation in the Turkish market.

Where the allegedly unlawful conduct occurs in Turkey or produces legally relevant effects here, Turkish-law remedies and jurisdictional rules may become relevant depending on the circumstances.

International cases nevertheless require careful conflict-of-laws and jurisdiction analysis.

42. What If the Athlete Lives Outside Turkey?

An athlete does not necessarily need to reside permanently in Turkey for Turkish commercial exploitation to create a legal issue.

For example, a globally famous athlete’s image might be used by a Turkish business exclusively in advertising targeting consumers in Turkey.

The location of the parties, advertiser, publication, harm, contract, and relevant commercial activity should all be assessed.

43. Contractual Protection Is the Best Preventive Strategy

High-profile athletes should use detailed image-rights provisions before entering sponsorship or club relationships.

Agreements should define:

permitted media, territory, duration, products, sublicensing, collective use, individual endorsements, AI use, voice cloning, digital avatars, merchandising, social media, approval rights, exclusivity, post-termination use, and remedies.

Broad phrases such as “all promotional purposes” can create unnecessary disputes.

44. 2026 Compliance Warning for Brands

Companies operating in Turkey should obtain permission before building campaigns around identifiable athletes.

This is even more important following the August 1, 2026 digital advertising reforms, which strengthened transparency and consumer-protection rules for areas including AI-supported advertising and influencer promotions. (Ticaret Bakanlığı)

A compliant campaign should therefore answer two separate questions:

Do we have the right to use the athlete?

and

Is the advertisement itself compliant with Turkish advertising law?

One does not replace the other.

45. Practical Legal Strategy for International Athletes

When unauthorized commercial use is discovered in Turkey, an effective legal strategy typically begins by determining:

who used the image, whether any contractual permission exists, the exact scope of any prior license, where the advertisement appeared, how long it ran, whether the use suggests endorsement, whether existing sponsorships were affected, whether AI manipulation occurred, and what financial or reputational damage resulted.

Only after these issues are established should the appropriate combination of removal, injunction, compensation, contractual, intellectual property, or other legal remedies be selected.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Can a company use a famous athlete’s photograph in an advertisement in Turkey without permission?

Celebrity status does not automatically grant businesses unrestricted commercial rights over an athlete’s identity. Commercial advertising should be distinguished from legitimate news or editorial use, and the precise circumstances must be assessed.

2. Can a company use an athlete’s Instagram photograph for advertising because the account is public?

A public social media account does not automatically create a commercial-use license. Additional copyright issues may also arise because the athlete may not own the photograph itself.

3. Can a Turkish sports club allow its sponsor to use a foreign player’s image?

Only to the extent that the club possesses sufficient rights under the relevant contractual arrangements. Ordinary club promotional rights should not automatically be assumed to include unrestricted individual third-party endorsements.

4. Can an athlete claim compensation for unauthorized advertising?

Potentially, yes. Depending on the circumstances and legal basis, claims may involve financial loss, licensing value, sponsorship-related losses, reputational consequences, and non-material harm.

5. Can an athlete stop unauthorized merchandise sales in Turkey?

Potentially. The available remedies may involve personality rights together with trademark, copyright, contractual, or unfair competition claims depending on the merchandise and rights involved.

6. Can a company create an AI advertisement showing an athlete without actually using the athlete’s photograph?

Using AI does not automatically eliminate legal responsibility. A recognizable synthetic representation falsely suggesting an athlete’s endorsement may create significant personality-right and advertising issues. Turkey’s strengthened rules concerning AI-supported advertising have been in force since August 1, 2026. (Ticaret Bakanlığı)

7. What if a sponsorship agreement expired but the sponsor continues using the athlete’s image?

The agreement should be reviewed for expiration, wind-down, inventory, social media, and post-termination provisions. Where no continuing right exists, subsequent use may potentially become unauthorized.

8. Can an athlete request urgent removal of an unauthorized advertisement?

Potentially, yes. Depending on the facts and applicable procedural requirements, urgent judicial or other legal remedies may be available. Evidence should generally be preserved before the advertiser is alerted.

9. Can a foreign athlete bring a claim against a Turkish company?

Potentially, yes. Foreign nationality does not itself prevent an athlete from pursuing legal protection against unauthorized commercial exploitation in Turkey. Jurisdiction and applicable law should nevertheless be assessed for international cases.

10. What should an athlete do first after discovering unauthorized commercial use?

The athlete should preserve evidence before contacting the advertiser. Screenshots, URLs, videos, dates, physical advertisements, engagement data, existing sponsorship agreements, and evidence of campaign scale can become critical in subsequent proceedings.

Legal Support for International Athletes Facing Unauthorized Image Use in Turkey

An athlete’s commercial identity can represent years of professional achievement and substantial economic value. Unauthorized use of a famous athlete’s face, name, likeness, voice, signature, social media identity, or AI-generated representation can therefore cause losses extending far beyond the price of a single photograph.

Fırat Fesih Kaya provides legal assistance to international athletes, professional players, coaches, agents, sports clubs, and commercial rights holders concerning unauthorized athlete image use, false endorsements, personality rights, sponsorship conflicts, image licensing disputes, unauthorized merchandise, social media advertising, AI-generated likenesses, digital replicas, injunction requests, content removal, and compensation claims in Turkey.

Early intervention can be particularly important in digital cases. Before an unauthorized campaign is removed or modified, evidence of its reach, duration, commercial purpose, and association with the athlete should be preserved. For high-value athletes, existing endorsement contracts and historical licensing fees may also be important when assessing the economic consequences of unauthorized exploitation.

For a case-specific legal assessment concerning unauthorized commercial use of an athlete’s image, name, likeness, voice, or digital identity in Turkey, you may contact our office.

Phone: +90 312 434 22 22
Mobile: +90 532 769 22 22
Email: info@firatfesihkaya.av.tr
Address: Mevlana Boulevard No: 221, Yıldırım Tower No: 148, 06520 Balgat, Çankaya, Ankara, Turkey